8/14 Game Recap: Phillies lose to the New York Mets 6-0

18; that is the magic number for the Phillies, 18 consecutive innings without a run. If you were to not count the ghost runner that scored in the 10th inning of Friday’s win, that number would multiply to 27 consecutive innings. This Phillies offense has a strong tendency to go quiet for periods of time, and it is becoming too frequent of an occurrence. Before last week’s loss to the Marlins, the Phillies had not been shutout since a June 24th loss to the San Diego Padres. Now the Phillies have been shut out 3 times in the past 4 days. For a team that was hyped up for having one of the best offenses in baseball, that’s certainly not a good look. But how did we get here you ask? Well ill tell you right here, right now…

After the Phils went down 1-2-3 in their half of the 1st inning, Fransisco Lindor would get the scoring started for the amazins’. After a Brandon Nimmo double to right that almost cleared the fence, Lindor would hit a bloop single to right sending Nimmo home and making it a 1-0 game early. Through the 3rd inning, both pitchers were dealing and it looked to be yet another pitcher’s duel for the 3rd straight day, but the Mets offense had different plans in the 4th inning. First Mark Cahna would double, scoring Pete Alonso from second base, Alonso may have been out if it had been for a better throw from Nick Castellanos, but never the less it was a 2-0 ballgame. Next a Luis Guilmore single would send Mark Cahna home making it 3-0. Finally, James McCann would hit a blooper to center that would be bobbled by Brandon Marsh, after a lazy throw into the infield Jeff McNeil would take off for home and be called safe after JT Realmuto was unable to corral the throw in. It was easy to see that Zach Wheeler looked nothing like himself today, he didn’t seem poised and didn’t have his usual stuff while towing the rubber for the fightins. In the top of the 5th, the Phils would get 2 runners aboard to start the frame before then going down 1-2-3 for the second straight inning. The bottom of the 5th would perhaps give the Phillies their play of the day, which was a strikeout throwout double play from JT Realmuto. Though it was a rough day for the Phils there are always small victories we can take. Trevor Williams would come into the game in the 6th for the Mets replacing Chris Bassitt who went 5 strong innings for New York. He would of course have no trouble mowing down the Phils lineup. Headed to the bottom half of the inning Daniel Vogelbach would launch a homer off Zach Wheeler making it a 6-0 ballgame and all but sealing the victory for the Mets. Fast forward to the bottom of the 7th where Corey Knebel would come out of the game after injuring himself on a pitch. Rob Thomson would later announce after the game that Knebel suffered a lat strain and will be flown back to Philly for an MRI tomorrow. Anyways, the Phillies would attempt yet another 9th inning rally but even after loading the bases, Alec Bohm would strike out ending the series at a low point.

This was a tough pill to swallow for the Phils, in the big picture this isn’t too bad of a loss. But in the world of moral this could be a hard one for the Phillies to live down. But we will have to hope Rob Thomson can keep them looking forward, the Phils will now head to Cinncinati where they will take on the Reds on a 3 game road stint. The Reds are 45-68 amounting for the 3rd worst record in baseball. The Phils are right back at it tomorrow when they will send Noah Syndergaard to the bump against Reds righty Mike Minor who is 1-9 with a 6.24 ERA on the season. But for now good morning, Good Afternoon, and goodnight, and of course Go Phils!